Sister Strings
by empurple
Summary: Dreams begin to flood Onodera, memories forced to be forgotten. But what if one tiny, significant, memory returns, how much will he remember? And what will he finally realize about the past of Takano and Yokozawa? Warning: cursing, among other things...
1. Prologue

**A/N: **Feeling this anime lately. Lots of love for all parings. First time for it~ Enjoy? :)

By the way...

Warning: yaoi, cursing, innuendos and sex not presented. TakanoxOnodera and YokozawaxOC

* * *

"_Ritsu."_

_"Sa-Saga-senpai?"_

"… _I love you."_

"_I-"_

_There was a table banging and door closing from downstairs. The two naked forms stayed still in the older one's bed, with the younger gasping lightly in fear, until… _

"_Masamune? Are you home, Masamune?" a female voice called out from below them. _

_Ritsu froze in his senpai's arms, but the older one from the two of them chuckled, "Don't worry…" he whispered, kissing his forehead gently, "It's just my sister," he added. Then, taking his arms off of the younger boy for a moment, he stood to open the door a bit and yelled back, "Up here! Don't disturb me unless it's dinner! I've got a visitor!"_

_The only thing Ritsu remembered hearing from the girl was:_

"_Okay~ Make Ritsu stay for dinner, please?"_

**X.o.X**

Onodera Ritsu opened his eyes, rubbing them before completely sitting up, "She… Knew who I was?"

It wasn't unusual that he was getting these dreams, especially since he began working at Marukawa Shoten, under Emerald's Maiden Department, with the great Takano Masamune – the same man who haunts his dreams (or nightmares, as forced himself to call them), who was coincidentally his first love, and first heartbreak (under an honest, but huge misunderstanding).

Onodera groaned. It was going to be a long day.

Entering the building of the office, he found the 'wild horse' of Marukawa Publishing, Yokozawa Takafumi, yelling at a girl with long black hair and bright amber eyes, dressed like the very description of sunshine: a yellow, knee-length dress, with a little bit of lace wrapped around the midsection; on top of it was an open brown coat, and on her head was a brown beanie. As he passed, Onodera noticed how tall she was, seeing her yellow ballet flats, and he only came up to her ears. The conversation she shared with Yokozawa was hardly private:

"You _can't_ keep me from seeing him this time, Yokozawa! You're the only one under the illusion that there's something wrong with him, so shut it!"

And just as Onodera entered the elevator, the young woman stormed towards him, closing the door on Yokozawa, who was just about to enter. Then, looking at him, she smiled in embarrassment, "Sorry about that, sweetie,"

Shocked at how she acted towards Yokozawa, of all people, Onodera chuckled nervously as he pressed the button for their floor of the building, "It's no problem," he said uncertainly.

She sighed heavily and closed her eyes, "That guy just frustrates me so much,"

"Um…" he didn't know why she was supposed to be of his concern, "What floor are you going to again?"

"The fourth," The girl opened her eyes and grinned cheekily, "Same as you,"

The elevator doors opened and Onodera was left inside for quite a few moments before he followed after the girl, who walked straight into the rack for their coats, dropping hers into a spare hanger, then into their office. _Who __**is**__ this girl? She can't be new and yelling at Yokozawa like-_

"Good morning, you guys!" she greeted into the office. Many gasps were heard all throughout the room just as Onodera came in after her.

"Ana-sensei!"

"Congratulations!"

"Takano-san, your sister is here!"

_Eh? His-?_

But just as Onodera sat on his desk, he saw the girl pranced towards Takano's desk, "Masamune~!"

To Onodera's surprise, Takano stood up and smiled. Yes, the man _smiled_, "_Nee-chan_," he said and just as he held his arms out, the girl named Ana jumped into his arms and half-tackled him, "It's been a while,"

Jumping off from Takano's arms and sitting on his desk, the girl grinned, "Yeah," she started, "It definitely has… Promoting the book's been too much work, seriously, and I deserve a break,"

Takano laughed, startling Onodera a bit, "A break? You _asked_ for this when you wrote a best-selling novel, sis," he countered, sitting on his chair and leaning into it.

"You've read Times, haven't you?" she asked with a raised eyebrow and Takano only laughed again, "Darn! I was gonna surprise you!"

"Well, I still haven't gotten a copy for myself, so I can't agree or disagree with Times," the editor began, with insinuating tones.

Ana giggled, "You're in luck," Then, from within her bag, an earthen colored tote, she took out a paper-back novel, still wrapped in plastic. Onodera had trouble reading the title from afar because from what he could see, it was in English. He continued to watch as the girl handed the novel to his boss.

"And they said you couldn't print a novel in Japan and turn it into a world-wide phenomenon," Takano chuckled as he took the book, "Against all odds, huh?"

Ana shrugged, "_You_ believed in me,"

Takano smiled at her again, "I did," he began slowly, sitting up from his chair, "… But I'm family – I'm not counted. That's bias,"

"When were _you_ ever biased, Masamune?" she demanded from him teasingly. Something dropped in the pit of Onodera's stomach.

_Never_.

"Never," And she and Takano shared a laugh.

Onodera looked around at his workmates who were either trying to work or lazing around, but mostly the latter. Then, clearing his throat, he called out to the one beside him, "Ano… Kisa?" he began.

The brunet he called perked up, "What is it, Ricchan?"

"That girl," he glanced back at the girl Takano was talking to, "… Who is she?"

"Ah, that's Hideyoshi Ana-sensei," replied Kisa, with a knowing smirk at Onodera, "He used to be in the same high-school as Takano-" Onodera's eyes widened at this, "-and she's acted like his big sister ever since they met in middle-school, people said," Kisa's eyes still focused on Onodera just as Onodera's focused Takano, "They separated over college, but she still visited him even as she worked on her Master's. Then, she became an author for Marukawa – the first one to write in pure English…"

"That's cool," Onodera said, still looking at her.

Kisa coughed, "Yeah, but you might break her with all that staring,"

Onodera turned red and looked back at him, "Was I… Was I staring that long?"

Across him, Minou chuckled, "Long enough for her to probably notice that you were staring,"

And true to that statement, once Onodera turned back to Takano and Ana, they were both looking at him, the former with an amused smirk playing upon his lips.

**X.o.X**

After sharing a laugh with Takano, Ana beamed at her 'little brother', "How have _you_ been, Masamune?" she asked, "Because Yokozawa refused to let me see you again, saying you're in some kind of shit…"

"When you talk to Yokozawa, I'm _always_ in some sort of shit," countered Takano, taking a cigarette from the desk in front of him, "But I don't really see what he means, do you?"

Ana took a lighter from her pocket, as though it was the most natural thing to do, and lit her brother's cigarette, "Never did," she whispered, "He thought there was something wrong with me too, somehow… Just because I've got some strange "family complex", he thinks that everything is dysfunctional…"

Takano took in a puff before blowing it out with a grin, "That only began after, you know… _That_. But, maybe it is?" he began, "That doesn't really matter, now, does it?"

Ana laughed hollowly, "He doesn't understand what matters, Masamune," she started, "Not everyone does," she looked down, however, with a sad smile, "He used to,"

Takano puffed out a bit of smoke again, "Your _editor_ seems to understand though,"

The girl flushed in the cheeks before she replied, "Yeah, well," she bit her lower lip, "Until he returns from America to finish the last bit of marketing, you can't confront him about that,"

Takano only grinned at her, "At least he loves you," then looked at something from behind her.

Ana raised an eyebrow, then turned to find the one she shared the elevator with staring intently at them, "Masamune," she began, "Is it me or is he turning jealous eyes towards us?"

A smirk prowled upon Takano's mouth, "Onodera!" he shouted, startling the rest of the room.

Immediately, the brunette came up to them, his emerald eyes shining nervously, "Onodera," Takano began softer this time, "This is Hideyoshi Ana. She is the writer of the best-selling novel 'Reasons why I like Coffee', under the pen name E. Sunshine," And he handed him the paperback that she gave him. Turning to her, Takano jerked his head at the smaller man, "This is Onodera Ritsu,"

Suddenly, Ana's eyes gleamed, "Really?"

Onodera could see that there was some connection between the other two that he wasn't really a part of, "Um… You know me?"

Ana grinned at him, "You probably wouldn't remember me…" she started but she shook her head, "But Masamune sent me an email about you a couple of weeks ago~"

"He-he did?" Onodera looked at Takano with his shocked green eyes and a blush tainting his cheeks. _Was that when I started?_

Takano raised an eyebrow at him and didn't reply to that, but instead gave him something to do, "You want to be a good editor, right?" he started, "Read that novel. I'll send you the manuscript and tell me how and why the editor chose to edit those specific parts,"

Onodera was beginning to get annoyed and was about to snap when Ana added, "This is only on your free time, Ricchan," she said, "It's not part of the job. Masamune isn't requiring you,"

Surprised, he looked at Takano, who nodded. But… It wasn't how he understood what he said. _How does she know him that well?_

"Oh right!" Ana suddenly exclaimed, making Takano cock an eyebrow at her, "I have no place to stay for the next week, Masamune. My hotel was booked for only the stay I have with Mi-chan and, well-'

"Stay at my place," Takano said it without hesitation, shocking Onodera, "You've always welcomed me so it's time for me to welcome you…"

Ana looked extremely pleased, "Thank you so much, Masamune!" and to Onodera's surprised, she kissed him on the cheek.

_Why did she just-?_

"Oi! Where _**is**_ she?"

Yokozawa had caught up with them and Ana glared at him from Takano's side. Looking at the intense battle of stares, Onodera seemed to join the rest of the Emerald Department in staring at them until Ana said, "What? Are you jealous?"

His eyes twitching, Yokozawa decided to say nothing of it, "Since you're going to be a bother for a while, why don't you stop wreaking havoc in other departments and just act like how normal authors spend their days off – having "fun"!" he added the quoting gesture to boot.

Ana looked at Takano who jerked his head towards Yokozawa and she did something the rest of the department didn't expect: she headed towards him and locked her arms around him. After a few moments of being shocked, the head of sales eventually wrapped his arms around the young author and even bent down a little to accommodate her smaller frame.

"If you missed me, you could've just said so, Takafumi," she whispered only for him to hear

"Tch," he muttered under his breath, "And what would that give me?"

Ana pulled away and pecked him on the cheek as well, "That,"

She then began to walk away, waving her hands above her head, "I'll be back at around lunch time to bring you some food – don't you go hiding from me!" And she grabbed her coat from the rack and exited the room, right into the hall.

* * *

**A/N: **For some reason... I'm excited XD


	2. The Beginning

**A/N: **Here we go! I hope you'll enjoy. Sorry about the OC - I like putting them in wherever I can...

* * *

It was an ordinary day at the Emerald Department of Marukawa Shoten. Ordinary being a relative term to the amount of stress that was pressed upon the editors who had manuscripts to pore over and deadlines to meet, which in this case, isn't much reflected on the fresh faces upon every single editor. Looking up from his desk, Onodera watched the clock tick. It was almost noon and the girl who had walked in, whom all the other editors knew as Takano's big sister, was supposed to come back to give them some lunch. Why it bothered him so much was beyond him, but something about Ana just seemed to be nagging at him – like he once knew her, but has now forgotten all about her.

"Takano-san, this fax just came in for you," Kisa came from the back of the room and handed Takano a piece of paper.

Taking it, he raised an eyebrow at it before setting it down on his desk, "Hatori, kindly take charge while I'm gone. I'll try not to take too long,"

And he left with Hatori's curt nod.

… _Without making a pass on Onodera._

Irked and troubled, Onodera couldn't keep his mind in the right track. For the next fifteen minutes, all he wanted to do was to get up and check whatever was on the piece of paper. All the other editors attempted to find other things to amuse themselves with, but only Onodera seemed to be the most interesting. Bored and curious, his colleagues watched him until he groaned and marched up towards Takano's desk with some lame excuse that they all didn't hear. Upon poring over the contents of his boss' desk, he found the white sheet of paper with the following memo:

_Lunch at the canteen, it's still the same, right? _

_Invite Yokozawa, please? I don't know his current number. _

_Maybe… We can talk. _

_I love you, Masamune~_

_Ana_

It was enough for Onodera to excuse himself and find out more about this so called 'sister'. Running out of the room, it was much more amusing for the other editors to watch.

"Ne, Minou," Kisa called out across him, "There's something about Onodera and Takano-san that gets you linking them too, right?"

Minou smirked, "Of course," he replied, "Right Hatori?"

The quiet brunet grinned, which was a reply enough from his colleagues.

**X.o.X**

"So… Thank you for not leaving me alone to have lunch here all by myself~"

Ana leaned happily into her interlaced fingers as she rested her elbows lightly upon the table. Before her, Takano and Yokozawa ate the food that she brought for them. Almost giggling to herself, she just watched them until Yokozawa eventually just swallowed his food and frowned at her.

"You say not to leave you to have lunch alone, yet you're not eating?" he demanded.

Ana giggled, "Well, this nice boy from the nearby bookstore came up and asked me to have lunch with him earlier today," she replied, to the other two's widening eyes, "Since I told him that I knew the editors here at Marukawa, and his _friend_-" she emphasized with implications, "-works here… I told him we could enjoy a talk – which, of course, we did."

Turning to Takano, she said, "I have something for Kisa-san later on," and to add to the effect, she gave him a small wink.

Takano and Yokozawa turned to each other and shared a hearty laugh. After a while, Ana laughed along with them. Once the laughter died down, Yokozawa was the first to raise his eyebrows at her with a grin, "You haven't changed at all, have you?"

Ana looked at Yokozawa and set down her hands, "What do you mean?"

"Your impulse, your typical happy-go-lucky nature…" Yokozawa stuffed some food in his mouth, chewed and swallowed, "Not to mention how you attract young boys so easily with your charm-"

"Yokozawa," Takano suddenly said warningly.

"No, no," Ana waved her brother's concern off, "It's okay…" she turned to the older of the two, "There isn't much I can do, you know, with the charm," she grinned as Yokozawa shook his head, "But I'm not saying there are some things that I haven't thought about…"

"Tch," Yokozawa chewed on a piece of squid on from his plate, "Isn't being impulsive exactly that? **Not** thinking about anything?"

"Takafumi,"

The sudden change of his name perked Yokozawa's ears which turned his eyes towards the young author, "I'm glad to see you,"

Takano's eyes bounced from Ana to Yokozawa. Without warning, Yokozawa put his chopsticks down and stood up, "Wait, where are you going?" Ana asked worriedly, thinking she had offended him.

"You like lattes, right?" Yokozawa asked her as he turned away, and walked towards the vending machine.

Ana smiled, but turned to her brother for help almost immediately.

"He won't admit to missing you, you know," Takano started blatantly, "Neither will he accept the fact that he secretly still holds feelings for you," he stuffed some food into his mouth.

"How do you know that?" the dark haired girl asked, used to his brother's pep-talks, "For all I know, he's moved straight on,"

Takano frowned at her, "Well… He thinks he's in love with me,"

"Wait, what?"

Her brother continued to push food into his mouth, "He slept with me after what you did to him, remember?"

"Yeah," Ana argued, "But that was a long time ago,"

"Well, now," continued Takano, swallowing his food, "He won't let go of me because it means letting go of you, to an extent,"

Ana sighed as she absorbed all this information, "What do you want me to do, Masamune?" she demanded, "My editor -my lover- is half-way across the world. You want me to cheat on him?"

Takano shook his head, "No," he said slowly, "But I want you to tell your old one that he is just as important to you as your current one, because that's how I see you to feel it,"

Something heavy fell at the pit of Ana's stomach and Yokozawa chose this time to return with a cold latte for Ana and two canned black coffees in his hand, "This one's for you, Takano,"

Taking the can, Takano opened it and was just about to drink when something caught his eyes. A bushy brown with hints of emerald, and it seemed Ana saw the same thing, apparently, as she called out:

"Ricchan! Come join us!"

**X.o.X**

_How did I end up here?_

Onodera found himself sitting on a chair pulled up by Ana-sensei right between herself and Takano. To top it off, Yokozawa was right in front of him, eating his lunch quietly. For some odd reason, the young author had shifted her seat and edged towards the sales head who thought not much of it. Based on what he overheard, it seems like Ana-sensei and Yokozawa had been lovers once when before. And based on what Takano said, it seemed like even though Ana-sensei already had a boyfriend or something, it seemed like she still had space for Yokozawa… Even though it sounded like it was Ana-sensei who had broken his heart.

"-right Onodera?"

He didn't hear what it was but he nodded, which made Ana and Takano turn to him.

"Ricchan, why are you so quiet?" Ana asked him mirthfully, "Don't be so shy in front of me, I won't eat you~"

"Oh no, it's not you, Ana-sensei!" he exclaimed, slightly sweat-dropping and getting a little jumpy, "It's… uh…" he slowly turned to Yokozawa who raised an eyebrow at him as he munched on the noodles of his lunch.

Ana looked at Yokozawa and giggled, "If it's Takafumi, Ricchan, I really don't think you should worry,"

Yokozawa turned to her with a pertinently raised eyebrow, "And why not?"

She gazed into his eyes with a warm smile, "You aren't going to bite, right?"

"Depends on who's talking," replied Yokozawa, gazing into her amber eyes with the same intensity she was giving him.

"I am," she whispered.

Yokozawa shook his head, sighed and closed his eyes. Onodera and Takano exchanged nervous glances but something told Onodera that his boss could predict what would happen next.

"Takafumi," and Ana raised a hand and ran it through Yokozawa's jet-black hair, making him open his eyes wide and turned them to Ana, "There's nothing to be guarded about," her hand then found its way to his cheek, "It's just me,"

Much to Onodera's surprise, Yokozawa leaned into her hand before placing his over hers, "I-"

"_Excuse me, sir, someone is endeavouring to contact you. Shall I tell them to-?"_

Yokozawa took Ana's hand in one of his and answered his cell phone with the other with a grumpy retort, "Yeah, what is it?" his frown deepened and eventually, he set down Ana's hand on the table, "… Just send a goddamn fax!" and hanging up, Yokozawa sighed in frustration, getting Onodera intimidated once more with his attitude, "Sorry, but my time is up,"

He was just about to stand when Ana pulled his hand back and turned to him with her amber eyes once more, "I mean it," she started, making Yokozawa gaze back into her eyes, "When I told you that I was glad to see you,"

For a moment, Onodera thought he would just grunt and walk away, or do some menial form of acknowledgement. However, he found Yokozawa pulling lightly upon the writer's hand, "Well," he began, "If you want to hug me or something, now's the best time,"

With a smile, Ana stood up and locked her arms around him once more and Yokozawa wrapped her arms around her waist. After several moments that probably seemed like forever, Yokozawa pulled away and looked into her eyes one last time, "I'll… I'll see you around, then."

And right after that, he walked away.

Ana sank into her chair with a faint blush staining her cheeks. Looking up at Takano and Onodera, she found the former smirking rather oddly, "Reminds you of a shoujo manga, doesn't it?"

"It certainly does," replied Onodera with a nod.

If possible, Ana's cheeks grew even redder, "What are you both saying?" she demanded, "Yokozawa and I are just-"

"Friends my ass," she hadn't finished her sentence when Takano contradicted her, "You are definitely the most difficult kind of tsundere to work with,"

Onodera was beginning to see just why the relationship between the author and editor-in-chief was working: it was one that seemed to overlap both friends and family.

"What?" the author gaped at him, "I'm not tsundere, all right?"

"Oh really?" retorted Takano, "Then, look me in the eyes and tell me honestly that you felt _nothing_ when Yokozawa wrapped his arms around you,"

Ana bit her lower lip, but said nothing. Takano stood up, took the empty, disposable bento boxes and threw them in the nearest trashcan before returning to the table, "He's still my friend, Ana," he told her, "And I still don't like him getting hurt. So please fix this, okay?"

And with Ana's nod, Takano kissed the top of her head, "Thank you, sis," then, he turned to Onodera who had gone quiet with how intimate he was to his sister, "Interview her, if you want to… I can feel your curiosity aroused…"

Then, without another word, he returned to the editing department.

Onodera watched Takano leave nervously, but once earshot, Ana immediately interrogated **him**, "You're in love with Takano, eh?"

"Wha-wha-what?" the young editor nearly fell of his chair, "Of-of course not, Ana-sensei!"

"Eh?" she pointed at the direction Takano went, "Then what was that gaze just now?"

Something fell at the pit of Onodera's stomach, "That was my ordinary gaze," _Liar_.

Looking at how flustered he was, Ana just laughed, "You haven't changed at all," she started.

_There she goes again, talking like she knows me._ Onodera fidgeted, "Um," he began, "Sorry, but… How can you say that? I mean, have I met you before?"

She looked at him, pondering, "I guess I can't tell you yet, if even _you_ don't seem ready," but then, she smiled happily at her, "But you could say that we've met in a past life,"

_Past?_ Onodera didn't like the sound of that, but it seemed like Ana had more than just that to ask him, "You… Agree with Masamune, don't you?" Ana asked him.

Snapped out of his thoughts, Onodera smiled hesitantly and nodded, "Yeah," he began, "I don't really know what happened, or anything about you for that matter, but I can tell that Yokozawa-san likes you,"

"Really?" Ana asked, seemingly seeking for hope in the answer, "How come?"

Onodera fidgeted again, "Um… Yokozawa-san usually…" He couldn't find the right words to describe it: _harasses him? Bullies him? Tells him to back off and leave Takano alone?_

"Picks on you?" Ana finished for him with an uncertain suggestion.

"… Yeah," Onodera nodded, "And… Just now… He seemed so caught up in something else completely that, I don't know…"

Ana chuckled, "He forgot to pick on you?"

The young editor shrugged, "If you could say that,"

Again, the author chuckled. She ran her hands through her long, black locks and sighed, "Well… He's really like that," she started, "But it's only because he's a genuinely caring person…" she paused and looked melancholic for a while that it worried Onodera, "… I don't even know how I became so lucky-"

She stopped and gasped, clasping her hands over her mouth, flushing. At first, Onodera didn't know what was wrong, but when Ana began explaining using the following words, he realized her concern:

"Don't get me wrong, Ricchan," she started, "I do love Mizuki Kagami, my editor and my boyfriend," at this, Onodera's eyes widened, "It's just that once you get to experience the best thing in life, sometimes you never forget about it… And it was my fault that it ever really ended."

Onodera was about to ask but he held his tongue, for once, wondering if that kind of information was too private for him to hear.

"I want to tell you," she began, looking around, "But it isn't safe in a place like this,"

The CCTV camera in the corner of the mess grabbed Onodera's attention, "You're trying to keep anonymous?"

Ana nodded, "It adds to the appeal," she said with a wink.

For the first time since meeting her, he genuinely smiled at her. _I now know why Takano-san loves having her as his sister_.

"So, I'll ask Masamune to bring you to dinner tomorrow night, okay?" Ana started with a knowing grin, "He says you live right next door so it should be no problem for you – I'll cook your dinner! I won't take no for an answer~"

_And she is just as persistent as he is_.

* * *

**A/N: **I love Yokozawa~ Any comments? :D


	3. The Case of Hideyoshi Ana

**A/N:** Let's start with someone new, okay? Thank you for choosing to read Sister Strings)

* * *

**The Spark**

"_I won't allow you to play with his feelings, nee-chan," Takano started as she poured him a cup of coffee that morning._

"_I'm not planning to do that, Masamune," she replied, taken aback, "What kind of person do you think I am?"_

"_I'm just saying," continued her brother as he leaned against the kitchen counter with a cigarette in his mouth, "That I only want you to push through with this thing you want to do today if you are __**absolutely sure**__ that you're ready to put him back in your life and not because you want to have someone to run to or rebound from…"_

_Ana poured herself a cup of coffee as well, and poured a bit of milk before she clasped it between her hands, "This is where that began, isn't it?" _

_Masamune looked at her with his honey-brown eyes, but said nothing._

"_I leaned upon him, just absolutely adored everything that we were becoming," she started, "But when I thought that I was taking advantage of his love for me, I didn't immediately realize that I was in love with him I thought I was a horrible person, and… I just left," _

"_Which actually made you the horrible person," Takano said after puffing out a small cloud of smoke, "You didn't even tell __**me**__ anything until you were an ocean away. What was with that?"_

_The young author, clad in her night gown, walked over to her brother, set her coffee down on the counter, and gave him an apologetic embrace, "You were going through some pretty tough things too, Masamune," she said, "I didn't want you to think that I was broken, after you've looked up to me so much," _

"_You idiot," and Takano chuckled, lightly ruffling her raven locks, "The reason why I want you to tell me these things is __**because**__ I look up to you and I want you to know that I am __**always**__ going to be here for you, whether or not I'm in some shit myself. You've been there for me when nobody was, so I'd like to repay the favor," _

_Ana beamed at him, and Takano smiled right back. _

_Pulling away and picking up her cup of coffee, Ana heaved a heavy sigh, "Do I have to tell him that?" _

"_By all means necessary, please." And Takano pressed his cigarette butt into a tray, picked up his coffee cup and began to get ready for work._

"_**There will always be that one person who, no matter how much things have changed, you will always have a thing for. "**_

"You're lucky you reached this part of the cycle,"

Ana nearly jumped off her seat as Yokozawa sat before her and snapped her out of her stance.

"You've got a few days until they start to become zombies or something," Yokozawa added with his trademark grimace.

"I guess I better find some cover before Masamune comes crawling for my blood," she countered with sardonic humor.

Yokozawa stared her down, "What do you want, Ana?" he demanded coldly.

"I…" why was he acting like that all of a sudden? _Remind me again, Takano, who's tsundere?_ "I wanted to talk to you,"

"You can do that by calling," he was about to stand when Ana reached out to grab his hand.

"Please?" she was begging him now, even with her heart thumping because it just absolutely pained her to see him turn his back on her, "Just this one more time?"

Yokozawa looked at her, then sighed and sat back down, "Masamune put you up to this, didn't he?"

"Yes, but even without him I still wanted to talk to you," she replied, withdrawing her hands from his hand and setting them on her lap.

Narrowing his eyes, Yokozawa glared at her, "He told you I was still in love with you, didn't he?" he demanded, "And if that's what you want to talk about, it's useless because I already have someone else-"

"Tell me about it."

She didn't know why she said it, and why she said it in such a casual way as well. Somehow, it pained her when Yokozawa said those words, but she just wanted to _know_. Yokozawa seemed appalled by her as well.

"What did you just say?" he asked her almost breathlessly.

"Tell me about this 'someone else' that you've got," Ana answered him slowly. She didn't even know why she was saying it as nicely, but she wanted to shout at him and demand the information from him because he kept it a secret from her but she knew that she had no right to say such things Yokozawa wasn't her possession, and he was free to do as he pleased. And especially after what happened to them, all of that was clearly out of place.

He was hesitant, "… Why?"

The food arrived, and all they did was gaze intently into each other's eyes. A large plate of white-sauced pasta arrived for Ana, and a dory-fillet with lemon sauce and rice arrived for Yokozawa, but all they could do was just look at each other. Ana could literally feel her heart thumping against her chest but she fought it back greatly._Don't you go leading him on again, you dumb girl! Don't you go hurting a man who loved you so much more than once._

"I just don't want you to be guarded again," she said slowly. Yokozawa's eyes widened, "And, I could feel the tension when I touch you, or approach you without you expecting it and… it burns, you know? Because I'm so used to just to us being… Us,"

Yokozawa sighed, but decided to say nothing about it. Taking the knife and fork, he looked at the food and said, "Let's eat first,"

And they spent the rest of the meal in a painful and loud silence.

**X.o.X**

"It's you,"

Ana's ears perked up as Yokozawa said those two words but she didn't really understand. Their food had been taken away and only two cups of coffee remained on the table. The young author looked at him with confusion in her eyes, "What?"

"Yesterday," Yokozawa began explaining, his blue eyes turning to her, "You told me not to be guarded, because it's _just you_," he sighed heavily, "But that's actually it. I'm guarded _**because**_ it's you if you only had any idea what happened after that, you would-"

"I know everything that happened after that, and believe me when I say I absolutely understand,"

Yokozawa was surprised at the heavy, miserable tone that she was using. She was usually the epitome of sunshine, so it was new to him to see her like that. It was clear to him that there was something more that they had to talk about.

"I know what Takano could tell you," Yokozawa began slowly, "It would be what I would have told him… But tell me this: _why?_ Why would you leave me like that just after I told you that I love you?"

All of a sudden, Ana's fingertips began to be very interesting as she avoided Yokozawa's gaze, "Because I loved you too," she said simply, her voice shaking, "But you would be surprised how I didn't know that…"

"I'm not really surprised," Yokozawa said with a frown, "But I don't believe you," his gaze at her became colder, "Had you loved me, you would have stayed,"

"I'm already admitting the fact that I was stupid, Takafumi," she argued with him, looking up with tears brimming in her eyes, which shocked Yokozawa, "The least you can do is think about how it could have been in _my_ point of view!"

"Have you seen it in mine?" he demanded, "You _know_ that I only went into Marukawa to follow you but we haven't even talked about this whole fiasco in five years! Why would you leave me to my misery, and my undying love for you, if you loved me too?" this statement earned stares from the people in surrounding tables so his voice dropped drastically, "Had you loved me, you would have stayed by my side…"

"Not if you deserved so much more."

At these words, Yokozawa's eyes widened. _Did I just hear that right?_

"What in the world," he began, concern emanating in his voice, "Would make you think that you didn't deserve my love?"

It wasn't just her voice now, but Ana had begun trembling too, her eyes turning back down to the hands she had placed on her lap, "You were… So nice," she started, "I was used to people liking me boys, girls, it happened," Yokozawa had to roll his eyes here, "But I didn't know how it felt to like one of them back… To _love_ one of them back. You were different from how all of the other people who liked me acted around me you were who you are, and I liked that,"

To his surprise, her tear-stained face looked up at him, "And when you told me you loved me, I couldn't stand the fact that I was taking advantage of someone who's so honest and so genuinely caring and loved me, for that matter," she gulped and blinked a couple of tears out, "I couldn't stand the fact that you loved me and I didn't know if I loved you enough…"

Yokozawa gaped at her, "Ana…" he said her name softly this time, "We shared a room, became each other's best friends and basically just lived the happy life like we were married," he started, "We would sleep beside each other like it's the most natural thing to do. I told you I loved you and we made love… You left right after that, and _**now**_you tell me that you didn't know if you loved me _enough_?"

"I said I was stupid, right?" Ana retorted in between snuffles, "I… I thought it was best, you know? I was a horrible person to take advantage of someone's true love and you would eventually find someone who'd genuinely love you too…" she drew a deep breath here, "I only realized that I was honestly in love with you and I just couldn't handle the fact that it finally happened to me when Masamune slammed the facts into my head literally,"

Yokozawa sighed, "So it's true, then?" he leaned back into his chair and crossed his arms over his chest, "That the guy who ends up with the main character in your book is based on me?"

Ana began trembling again and Yokozawa noticed that tears began streaming down her cheeks, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry," she cried, "It's just that…You were just crazy sometimes, and frustrating… But it pulled me in, you know? It was intoxicating, I can't explain it. It was a complicated emotion," she sniffed and attempted to wipe away her tears, "Whatever I did, I always missed you. And I want you to be the same around me again, because I can't lose you… I don't want you to leave my life. I've never been so comfortable with anyone else except you. Not even Kagami ever let me feel that way and I guess you'll always be the first person to make me fall in love…"

She knew that it was embarrassing to finally admit it but she wanted to be completely honest with him. She didn't want to leave anything unsaid anymore. Besides, she promised Takano.

Ana heard Yokozawa's chair move and graze the wooden floors. _Of course he'd leave, you idiot. You're humiliating, crying like that. Honestly! _She cried harder, expecting that she'd be alone just as she left him alone all those years back. _**I deserve this. **_

However, much to her surprise, a gentle hand pushed her chin up and her shocked amber eyes met with blue ones just as they were about to close and her lips met a pair of familiar soft lips. At first, she was so shocked she couldn't move but as Yokozawa kissed her deeper, she managed to finally respond and cup his face between her hands.

"_Excuse me, sir, someone is endeavouring to contact you. Shall I tell them to fuck off?"_

Pulling away after hearing his ringtone, Yokozawa smirked at her, "Still the easiest way to stop you from crying,"

Her eyes still livid, Ana's lips formed a soft smile at how he teased her, "At least you know it still works,"

The sales head straightened up and withdrew his cell phone from his pocket, "What?" he demanded, then he scoffed and frowned again, "All right. Tell them I'm on my way back," ending his call, he turned back to Ana, "I'm being called to a meeting," he started.

Ana wiped away the remnants of her tears, then nodded, "It's all right," she began, "You should go… I know you're working very hard and you're proud of what you've done~"

Yokozawa nodded and turned to leave, "Coffee tomorrow at three, all right?" he called back to her as he walked away, "Ask permission already!"

_Wait. Wait. Wait… __**What?**_

"… Are you asking me out?" she called out just as Yokozawa reached the front door of the café.

He turned to her with a serious face, "Only if you see it that way."

Ana sank into her seat, sweating and nervous, a hot blush staining her cheeks. _What am I going to do?_

Right on time, her phone began ringing:

"_Drop everything now, meet me in the pouring rain. Kiss me on the sidewalk, take away the pain-"_

"H-hello?" her voice trembled, "Mi-chan?"

"_Hi love," _the voice of her boyfriend rang in her ears, _"I'm just checking on you, as usual… What's happening there?"_

She paused for a moment and felt like crying again. There was much to be done in her life too much. And this time, she didn't need Takano to tell her twice what she should do. Besides, she didn't really like to be the cause of heartbreak, for anyone.

"… I have something to tell you,"

* * *

**A/N: **What was it Ana-sensei had to say?


	4. The Case of Takano Masamune

**A Lesson in Love (The Case of Takano Masamune)**

The room was cold – then again, it always was. And that was just how he liked it. Chest bare, with the comforter only covering up to his waist, he felt no beam of sunshine hitting him through the window. _It's still early_. However, unlike most of his department, he had a meeting to get to first thing that morning and it wasn't like he was going to skip that meeting for a couple of hours of much needed sleep, of course not. An editor must do what an editor must do.

A soft breath from beside him told him that he wasn't alone on the bed.

_Oh yeah. Nee-chan will be staying here for a while. _

Opening his eyes slowly, he saw the lovely raven-haired girl, locks tangled and framing her face. Her lashes were long, and her lips quite pink, and her skin was a little pale, just like his. _No wonder we could go for the brother-and-sister duo with no problem._

Takano closed his eyes, melancholic.

_How did we end up here, anyway? _A soft chuckle escaped his lips, _Oh yes. As if I could ever forget._

**X.o.X **

He was used to walking home alone.

Other kids took the bus, and some lucky others had their parents drop them off and pick them up from school – either that, or the rich bastards had drivers. Either way, he really couldn't care less. There was nothing to be lost by walking home alone, especially since there's nobody to let you down, nobody to break your heart, and basically, nobody was there to treat you like you didn't belong. And, although most people would say it was horrible for someone so young to be alone in the world, with no parental guidance whatsoever, Masamune believed that he's had enough parental guidance as it is.

_At least I know that marriage is just a label and doesn't really mean anything. What's a 'parent', anyway?_

His parents were either out of the house, or at each other's throats, which left him and the big, empty house that they had. When was twelve, and left to the custody of his neighbors and their warm-hearted daughter – the neighbors didn't really do much, but their young girl treated him like he was her own little brother. He was thankful, of course, because at least he didn't starve. But… What does she know, anyway? It's not like she's been broken before. She lived with happiness and fulfilment, which was probably why she took pity on the little boy crying his eyes out one summer night. It wasn't that he wasn't grateful to her, but it was just that she probably wouldn't understand. She… She was perfect.

So, fourteen year-old Saga Masamune unlocked his door – however, much to his surprise, _the front door was open_.

_Oh great. My parents are here. _

But once he took off his slippers, he heard no yelling, and no arguing. Just the plain silence of his empty house… And ruffling and scrambling sound from within his kitchen. Curious and cautious, he headed down the hallway and found a girl, still clad in her school uniform, piling food in his cupboard, arranging them nicely.

"…Excuse me?"

The girl jumped in surprised, but relaxed once she saw him, "Oh, Saga-kun, it's you," she said, "You scared me there…"

Masamune just looked at her for a moment, _No. That can't be her. _"Ana… chan?"

Amber eyes disappeared from his view as her cheerful smile caught him by surprise. She was… Prettier, especially now that he was able to take a good look at her, unlike all those times he spent his tear-filled eyes looking at her. Shoulder-length black locks fell gracefully upon her shoulders and her frame and form was a like an hourglass. She was quite tall, too, compared to most of the sixteen year-old girls Masamune has seen in their school. Well, that was puberty.

"I guess it's been a while since you last saw me, huh?" she began saying.

Masamune could only nod, "You've been doing groceries?"

"I was also wondering if you'd want me to cook, you know?" she asked sweetly, "I mean, I don't cook really extravagant dishes but it's better than buying microwavable bentos from the convenience store," she added.

He didn't really know what to say, so all his reserve and guard fell straight down, "Why?"

Stunned, Ana shut the door to the cupboard she filled and leaned upon the counter, "What do you mean 'why'?"

They looked at each other for a moment, where in Masamune began to think of how to properly word his thoughts. But then again, where was logic when you needed it the most?

"If you're doing this because of pity, don't," he started. He could honestly say that he was getting annoyed, "I mean, I'm grateful that you're being so nice and all but I'm sure I can fend for myself. Besides, you really wouldn't understand what I'm going through, so I don't think you can-"

"Oh yeah?" she demanded, "Try me."

Masamune was stunned, "What do you mean?"

"**My** parents have been separated since I was three, and I barely saw both of them until I was ten," she began telling him, "I lived with my grandparents in Sendai until my mom brought me back here. He met my Swedish step-father a couple of years back and they've had my brother, and another baby in the way. They're moving to Malaysia next month so I'm going to be left alone again here in the house that they _bought_ so that we could 'be together as a family'…"

She paused momentarily, "… And I told them I'd stay here and not move with them."

"Are you an idiot, why did you do that?!" he retorted. He knew how it felt and all of a sudden, he felt like it was okay to feel like he needed family, because he wanted that kind of thing and_ others let go of it so easily_?

"Because I'll be leaving you alone again and I don't want to be like your parents!"

Masamune was appalled. This girl in front of her… She was a treasure. She's not really the best parent, perhaps. But she's shown him better parenting skills than his parents have. And she was willing to put up with him, as she was at that moment. Dare he say it, there could be a part of her that must have cared so much about him. Perhaps she was touched by the little boy crying himself to sleep at night? Yes. That would most probably it – for she seemed to be type of girl who'll be so warm that all the pain and suffering will melt out of your life.

Unwilling to suffer the silence, Ana decided to continue fixing her groceries by stacking them in the cupboard. Masamune pulled up a chair from their dining table and faced her.

"Maybe I'll take that home-made dish, _nee-chan_,"

**X.o.X**

"_Tadaima,"_

"_Okaeri nasai,"_

Masamune dropped his bag down the hall and walked up to the kitchen to find something already cooking in the oven and Ana had her usual cup of coffee in her hand, "You're home early, sis,"

Ana nodded, "Yeah, well I understood the pizza recipe better than everyone else," she chuckled, "So I made one for us here at home too," she sipped a bit from her coffee, "How about you? How's school?"

Just mentioning it, Masamune immediately frowned, "Some kid is stalking me,"

Ana was surprised, "… What?"

"And it's not even the 'fangirl' kind of, "Oh Saga-kun is so cute that's why we'll follow him in a pack" kind of stalking," he began complaining, "He's reading all the books I've read, and wherever I look he always seems to be there and sometimes, I could _swear_ that he's following me in the library while-"

But he stopped when he heard Ana's giggling.

"… You're laughing at me?" he asked.

"No, it's just…" Ana stood up to put her cup in the sink, "You sound like you're in love with this kid,"

"What?!" He wanted to just throw something right now, "Did you _completely_ miss all the anger and annoyance in my voice when I was talking about him just now?"

"You can say that all you want, Masamune, but if you notice all these little things about him, and especially the fact that you even acknowledge his presence just as he's there," she chucked, "You're falling in love,"

"You're forgetting that this is a guy we're talking about," he pointed out.

There was a glint in her eyes, "When did gender stop me, Masamune?"

"Tch," he scoffed, "Love doesn't even exist in this world,"

_SLAP!_

The next thing he knew, Ana had taken a couple of steps towards him and slapped him right across the face.

"You're unbelievable, you are," she said to him with tears staining her eyes, "Did it ever occur to your ever-brilliant mind that the reason I'm staying with you right now is because _I love you_? I wouldn't be doing that if I didn't, I didn't want you to feel alone again, so _why do you keep pushing that kind of gift away from yourself?_"

Masamune didn't know what else to do because she didn't only slap him across the face to see reason, but she gave him a kick in the ego that told him that it's not bad to need people every now and then – especially people who are genuine, like her. So he wrapped his arms around her in an apologetic embrace.

Taking him into her arms, Ana whispered, "If someone is willing to truly love you, Masamune, don't ever let them go," she smiled sadly, "Because true love in this world is hard to find,"

The young teen embraced her tighter.

"_I love you too, nee-chan. I'm… I'm sorry,"_

**This was his sister. **And she'll always be.

**X.o.X  
**

**A/N:** Somehow, I want to have this kind of brother, hihihi.


	5. Evidence

******A/N: **Hi :) Thanks for choosing to read this story, by the way! I hope you read some of my other stories as well (preferably my ByaRen fics, because I work hard for those XD) and, well, just really thank you for choosing Sister Strings! *bow*

* * *

**Evidence (The Case of Hideyoshi Ana)**

Amber eyes opened to peer into one's identical to its own shade.

Ana blinked a couple of times before she pulled the covers up to her neck, "How Ricchan is able to sleep in the same room as you, I'll never understand in this cold," she muttered.

"We get heated up in the night," replied Takano, a smirk prowling upon his face, "I think you know that,"

Ana giggled a bit, "Oh yes, I'm pretty much aware,"

Takano turned over to see the time and sighed heavily. Knowing that it must be time for him to go, Ana kicked away her covers, "All right, Masamune, what do you want for breakfast?"

The editor turned to her with a pleased smile, "Anything with coffee, really. Thanks, _nee-chan_,"

It wasn't long before the young author was in the kitchen counter, wrapping a small sandwich and a bento for her brother. When Takano emerged from the room, he had changed into a light-blue, long-sleeved polo-shirt, with his coat on top. He entered the kitchen, and Ana handed the bento to him, "Lunch," she started, then handed the sandwich, "For now, so you can eat on the way," then, she gave him a tall tumbler, "And coffee,"

The whole scene made Takano chuckle for a moment, "Thanks sis," he said with a laugh, kissing her on the cheek, "Are you planning to go to Marukawa early?"

"Just right after you, yeah," Ana started to explain, with her trademark smile, "I have to send in brownies for your editors, remember?"

"Right," began Takano, "And you'll wait for Yokozawa there?"

"Of course," she replied happily.

Suddenly, Takano's face fell, "I hope you do not encounter _him_, then,"

With those words, Ana's smile began to dissipate, "… You mean the one Yokozawa was referring to when he said he had 'someone else'?"

"Yes," her brother replied, "Kirishima Zen. Japun's Editor-in-Chief."

As she led Takano out of the apartment, she heard a clicking on the door next to theirs and Onodera went out of his own place. Seeing Takano, he frowned but his expression changed in front of Ana, "Good morning, Ana-sensei,"

"Ah," Ana smiled happily, "Good morning, Ritsu! Oh, wait, I made one for you too~"

Then, she ran back inside and took a separate pack of lunch for him. Running back out, she found Onodera and Takano arguing… again:

"- you should really brush up on your lying skills,"

"I do not need to-!"

"Boys,"

Takano and Onodera looked at her, the latter looking rather ashamed of himself, seeing as _somebody else's _sister (Takano's sister, nonetheless) caught him arguing with his boss, flushed red in the cheeks.

Ana gave the younger editor his bento and all she could do was chuckle, "Just… please take care," she side-glanced at Takano who smirked at her, "Both of you, okay?"

"Yes," they chorused at her.

And she returned back into her brother's apartment to get changed and before heading out to Marukawa herself.

**X.o.X.**

Donning more casual clothes – a pair of dark, skinny jeans and a violet, hanging shirt underneath her coat – Ana set out for Marukawa, but not before passing by a nearby bookstore, bringing with her three baskets full of her own, home-made brownies – one basket particularly smaller than the other two.

"Good morning~" she greeted the cashier happily, "Ano… is Kou Yukina here?"

"Who is it?" a handsome young man, perhaps in his early twenties, peeked from a set of shelves, "Ah! Ana-sen…" but Ana gaped at him, wide-eyed, shaking her head, "…pai. Ana-senpai."

His effort almost made Ana laugh, "Yukina," she started as she approached him, "You're such a funny kid,"

"Hey!" the handsome young man protested, "I'm not _that_ young!"

"I know," Ana laughed, before taking the smaller basket, "But oh hey, this is for you and Kisa,"

"Really?" he asked happily, "Let me put this into my locker, then I'll bring you to your stop~"

"No, you don't have to-" but Yukina didn't take no for an answer. He came back and carried the other two baskets for her up to the front door of Marukawa, as Ana held a bag of several cups of coffee, regardless of his boss calling every five minutes.

**X.o.X**

Upon arriving at Marukawa (with the help of young Kou Yukina) and strongly believing that she should drop off Yokozawa's brownies first, Ana went to Sales and found only a few people there.

"May I help you?" asked a girl with auburn hair, who was a little bit into the room.

"Uh, yes…" Ana started looking around, "… I don't suppose Yokozawa's here already,"

The girl before her tensed a bit, "No, sorry," she started, "I can leave him a message if you want. May I know your name?"

Ana held up one of the two baskets remaining, "I just want to drop this off," she said, "Tell him it's from Hideyoshi Ana~"

All of a sudden, everyone else in the room stood up, "Ana-sensei?" even the girl before her looked star-struck, "Forgive me, Ana-sensei, I didn't recognize you!"

Resisting the urge to laugh, Ana just grinned, "No, really, it's okay," she began, "I just want to know where Yokozawa's desk is…"

"It's here, Ana-sensei," a raven-haired guy with glasses told her, gesturing at a semi-secluded table across her, "This is Yokozawa-san's table,"

"Thank you," she said to them all, dropping the basket off, "I'll be sure to tell him to share this with you guys,"

The girl she first encountered giggled lightly, "I never knew that Yokozawa-san was Ana-sensei's boyfriend,"

Ana winked and said nothing else, and headed towards the elevator. Pressing the arrow that pointed up, she mused to herself, _I hope he doesn't think it's too much. I miss doing these kinds of things for him…_

She was happily pondering upon that train of thought when the elevator doors opened, and-

"Isn't it obvious? I'm proposing to you."

And she saw an _extremely_ good-looking guy, with brown hair and honey-colored eyes, hand a key over to Yokozawa, who shakily took the key in his hands. Then, he looked out at the open elevator doors and his jaw dropped to find Ana staring at him, wide-eyed.

"Aren't you getting out?"

The Sales head stepped out and stared long and hard at Ana, "… You heard?"

"Oh yes." Ana couldn't hold back a tinge of pain and a pang of jealousy. She looked at the guy and raised an inquiring eyebrow, "Kirishima, eh?"

The man in the elevator nodded, "I've heard about you as well, Hideyoshi-san. It's a pleasure to meet you, although I would have wanted it in better circumstances,"

Ana attempted to hold back her tears, "Indeed,"

"Ana, wait-" Yokozawa was about to say, trying to hold on to her arm but Ana shrugged his hand off.

"I'll be at Emerald if you need me."

And she entered the elevator without another word.

**X.o.X**

Ana arrived at Emerald Department with a lot of people beginning to get stressed, and yelling into their telephones or manuscripts or storyboards to be passed (much like her brother, Masamune). Stressed as well because of her less-than-amusing elevator trip with Kirishima Zen, another editor for a different magazine, she sighed. However, once she spotted familiar faces of her brother's co-workers, her face lit up slightly. She looked around and dropped a basket at Takano's desk right after he slammed the phone on somoene, and a carton of several cups of coffee on Hatori's desk.

"Looks like you guys need a break," she started, now grinning at her little brother from ear to ear.

"You are one author that none of us would be able to hate, nee-chan," Takano started, standing and taking off the linen that covered the basket. All of a sudden, the scent of chocolate, and nutmeg, and newly-baked brownies filled the air and all the editors turned to Takano's direction.

"… Is that Ana-sensei's famous brownies?" Kisa started, his eyes widening.

Ana just grinned and nodded, "Tell Minou not to eat them all, this is two batches!"

"Aw," Minou, from beside Kisa pouted, "But they taste so good~"

Ana just laughed, "I brought you guys some coffee as well – I know you thrive on it almost as much as I do,"

"Not for pleasure, Ana-sensei," Hatori arrived and took off his coat before approaching Ana, "It's been a long time,"

Cautiously, she approached the tall editor and locked her arms around him, "It _has_ been such a long time, Hatori," she said in a low voice.

Taking a cup of coffee from the carton that Ana brought along with her, Takano chuckled, "So long, in fact, that I've forgotten that you two dated for a while,"

Hatori and Ana laughed, "Yes, well," started Ana, "Things are very different now, of course," she said, pulling away and winking at Hatori, who suddenly grew red in the cheeks.

"Ah… Right," he began, coughing lightly before taking his seat.

"Does this mean it's getting well with Yokozawa-san, Ana-sensei?" Kisa asked, walking over to Takano's desk, taking a brownie.

All of a sudden, Ana's face fell, and Takano immediately knew that something happened.

"Things _better_ be," he warned, scowling, "Yokozawa is an _awful_ drunk,"

Ana frowned at him, "If I remember correctly, I'm worse," she countered. She took a cup of coffee and handed it to Kisa, then took one and gave it to Hatori, "You've seen me, right Hatori?"

The tall brunet nodded, taking his coffee cup, before pulling Ana by the waist, pulling her close to him, saying in a low voice, "I'm sure Yokozawa-san won't be able to resist coming back to you,"

With that statement, Ana and Takano exchanged nervous glances, "I do hope so," she muttered, then she looked up at Onodera who was just staring at her, "Ricchan? What's wrong, don't you like my brownies?"

"Oh no, I've had quite enough of them already, actually," Onodera began to reply, getting extremely nervous all of a sudden, "It's just…" all eyes and ears were on him now, "… With how close you are with all these men – with all of us… Won't Yokozawa-san, I don't know, feel a little bit jealous?"

"It's happened before," Takano was the one to reply, standing and taking a brownie, "But Yokozawa already knows that the entire Emerald Editing team has one thing in common, other than being extremely gorgeous," it took Ana a great deal of strength not to laugh here, "And he knows that nobody – not even Hatori, who is one of nee-chan's ex-boyfriends – is a threat against him here," he sat on Onodera's desk and took hold of his chin, "Now, say 'ah',"

"Takano-san, everyone's looking!" the young editor complained, slapping away Takano's hand, although getting beet-red.

"Would you like to hide, then, before you allow me to give you a brownie?" Takano demanded, "Just open your damn mouth! 'Ah'!" he did it himself, for Onodera to imitate.

And, for the first time, even though a lot of them were looking, Onodera opened his mouth and bit into the brownie that Takano had offered, albeit a little red in the cheeks. Pleased, Ana took a cup of coffee and turned to Hatori who sat back down on his chair, "Can I sit here?" she asked.

"Sure," replied the brunet, "But if Yoshino comes here, you have to explain,"

Takano looked at the pair of them from Onodera's desk, "You two are asking for trouble,"

"And it looks like it found them," Kisa pointed out, looking up as the elevator doors opened and, even from afar, he saw a huffing Yokozawa Takafumi heading towards their area.

"Ana is here, isn't-?" but he stopped and stared when he saw Ana sitting on Hatori's lap – one whom he knew was from her past. Attempting to keep his cool, he looked straight at her, "Can I please speak with you?"

"Yes, you may," she started, not moving, "You can speak now."

Takano glared at him, now realizing that it was _his_ fault, which didn't make things any better, "Look, Ana," Yokozawa started, "I didn't do that intentionally,"

"What do you mean?" demanded Ana, now standing and, even though she was a good head shorter than Yokozawa, he seemed more afraid of her, "You didn't mean for me to hear that? Or you didn't mean to let me find out that somebody _else_ is running in your mind?!"

"I have _**no**_ intention of accepting it, believe me!" Yokozawa almost shouted, making Onodera freeze in his seat. The entire editing team had their full attention at both of them now.

Ana blinked back tears, "But you had,"

It took a moment before Yokozawa could reply, "I did, admittedly," he started in a low voice, "But things have changed since you came back – a lot of things. I'm sorry you had to see that, I never wanted it that way." He side-glanced at Takano, who still sent daggers at him, "I swear it. I… I just want you."

Ana was seemingly unconvinced because she huffed and merely took a sip from her cup of coffee, before setting it down on Hatori's desk.

"Look…" Yokozawa started, now clenching his fists, "… I lost you for more than five years, Ana, and I'm not letting you go again!" he strode towards her, gazing only into her deep, amber eyes, "I'm not letting you out of my sight,"

And he pulled the flushing-crimson Ana by the waist, "You're not going to be anybody else's but mine!"

Tears brimming in her eyes, Ana wrapped her arms around him, "Like I would be anything else but yours, Takafumi," she muttered.

The entire room clapped, with Takano nodding in approval, "Remind me, Hatori," he started, "To get their life drawn up into a shoujo manga,"

"We are NOT a shoujo manga!"

The Emerald's Editing Team gaped at the couple before them, who exchanged glances as they pulled away to retort. Realizing that they had the exact same thought, the two of them laughed at each other, before Yokozawa turned a sharp eye at Takano.

"Oi, Masamune,"

Takano raised an eyebrow, quite perplexed.

"I'll be borrowing your sister for a while," he said with utmost solemnity.

Takano chuckled at him, "If it's nee-chan, I don't think you'll have to return her to me…" he looked at Ana, who smiled happily at him.

"_She's all yours._"

* * *

**A/N:** Read and review, please? I'd love any comments.


	6. The Case of Yokozawa Takafumi

**A/N:** If anyone is still reading, I would definitely love some motivation to keep writing it. I do miss writing so very much, and I hope I'm not getting rusty :)

* * *

**(The Case of Yokozawa Takafumi)**

_He was good-looking _– and Yokozawa really wasn't going to deny it. And he definitely _did_ have a crush on the guy, especially when he hadn't seen Ana yet. But then again, it was most probably because of the fact that resembled her the most – a beautiful person, with a passion for what he does, extremely well with children (something he, himself, is unable to perfect) and the mere company was something he could never be able to pay for in any sort of service. It was quite sad that he had transferred all these feelings he had, and made Kirishima Zen compensate for the previous lack of the young author in his life.

… But never in his dreams (or nightmares?) did he ever think that Kirishima would _actually_ propose to him.

And what's worse was Ana saw the entire thing – and he was unable to do anything about it.

"I'll be at Emerald if you need me."

And as the elevator doors shut, Yokozawa felt his own helplessness. _Holy shit, __**what the hell do I do now**__?_

After recovering from shock, he decided to walk towards his desk, when-

"Yokozawa-san! You didn't tell us that Ana-sensei was your _girlfriend_!"

"Eh! She's so hot, I never knew!"

"Yokozawa-san, you're so lucky! She even makes sweet things for you!"

That last statement caught him off guard, but surely enough, upon reaching his desk he found a basket with soft linen covering it.

Taking a glance at what was inside, then returning the linen, he cursed at himself, "Shit," he muttered, "How the hell do I fix this now?"

"Ano… Yokozawa-san?"

"What, Mokura?" demanded Yokozawa to the guy in the desk next to his.

The young salesman hesitated before saying, "She'll forgive you."

It made Yokozawa stop all his thoughts from reeling, "… What did you just say?"

"Ana-sensei?" repeated Mokura, the young salesman under his wing, "She'll forgive you. Kagura and I saw how she was when she came in here… She was extremely happy to be doing these kinds of things for you. I mean-" he side-glanced at the girl that Ana had met earlier that morning, "-we never even knew that you were her boyfriend until she came up,"

Yokozawa scowled, "I'm _**not**_ her boyfriend."

"Eh?" it was Kagura this time, the girl with auburn hair, who looked confused, "That wasn't what she told me!"

"What?" now Yokozawa didn't know what to believe – surely Ana was _lying_ to them?

"We teased Ana-sensei about it," Kagura began to explain, standing and walking over to Yokozawa's desk, "I told her that none of us knew that Yokozawa-san was her boyfriend. She put her finger to her lips and winked at me, which I'm taking is supposedly what she believes you are,"

"Ana has been going out with a different guy before she returned to me," Yokozawa started to say but Mokura shrugged.

"You said it yourself, Yokozawa-san," he started to say, "She _returned_ to you. What makes you think that she's still together with that other guy?"

And looking at the basket of home-made brownies and to how his colleagues suddenly encouraged him, Yokozawa chuckled at himself. _What the hell am I doing here? _He began to walk back towards the elevator, "Thank you for that, both of you. Feel free to get some – but save some for me…"

**X.o.X**

He was bringing Ana down to the Sales' Department with him when he felt like that question needed to be answered:

"Oi, Ana,"

The young author's head perked up to look at him, "Hm? What is it?"

"What have you been telling my people?" he asked her.

"Eh?" she looked a little confused, "What are you talking about?"

"Don't play innocent about it," Yokozawa frowned as his voice started to get louder, "I'm talking about you telling them that you're in a relationship with me and-!"

But the question got lost in his throat when Ana raised an eyebrow at him in the 'are-you-really-going-to-ask-that' kind of way, "What?"

All of a sudden, Yokozawa felt a rush to his cheeks so he turned away, "… You shouldn't be telling people that," he said almost defeatedly.

"So you really think that I'll go out with you today and _still_ have a boyfriend half-way across the world?" Ana's hand gently reached up to his cheek and made him turn back to her, "You actually think I can bear with doing that kind of thing… To _you_ of all people, when you're all I really want and need?"

_Not good_, Yokozawa warned himself, "You're using your talent as a writer to manipulate me," he warned, edging away as the elevator doors opened and he stepped outside.

"Why is it so hard for you to believe that I love you?"

Hearing that, the rest of the sales department, including Yokozawa, froze.

He usually kept his private life and his work separate – but dealing and falling in love with an author, within the premises of a publishing company no doubt, wasn't part of the idea. He was always impulsive, yes, but it had limits especially to the extent that his will can do and handle. But this, however, was a situation that was uncalled for and he never had enough training to deal with these kinds of situations. Ever. So, slowly, Yokozawa turned, and returned a soft, breathless, "What?"

"You heard me," Ana repeated, "I broke up with my ex-boyfriend yesterday night. As it turns out, he had found someone else as well. The first thing I told him was that I was completely and utterly in love with you, Yokozawa Takafumi."

Even he could tell that she was serious.

Slowly, Yokozawa took small steps towards her, and much like what he did in the Editing Department, he wrapped his arms around her very tightly, "I love you too, Ana," he whispered, "I just… can't believe it."

He felt her tears staining the front of his chest a little bit, "Believe it, okay?" she started to say, "I'm here now. I'm not going to do anything stupid like running away again…"

Yokozawa was about to bend down and kiss her for all the words pouring out of her mouth, when-

"**Yokozawa-san!**"

Annoyed, the sales-head pulled away and retorted, "WHAT?!"

Mokura looked extremely horrified and mumbled, "Your meeting starts in three minutes,"

"…" Yokozawa sighed and turned back to Ana, who was wiping away her tears, "Stay at my desk," and like how he did it in the café, he placed a finger on her chin, ushering for her to look up, and kissing her softly, "I'll be back for our date,"

**X.o.X**

Although he knew that no real harm would come to her within Marukawa, Yokozawa was still restless all throughout the meeting. Naturally, he attempted to keep his attention on the topic at hand (who among the local authors would be sent to represent Marukawa for a seminar) but seeing Ana from the window behind him remained unsettling. Even Isaka noticed this, side-glancing at him every now and then.

At first, she was just writing. _Well, that's how Ana is on normal occasions, anyway_, he reminded himself. But five minutes before they finished the meeting, he looked back and found that Ana had picked up his phone and was talking to someone.

_Uh-oh, this isn't good. What if-?_

"Oi, Yokozawa,"

Yokozawa turned to find Isaka staring intently at him as they both exited the meeting room, "Yes, Isaka-san?"

Isaka's eyes darted from Yokozawa, to Ana, then back to Yokozawa. One look told the salesman that Isaka had it all figured out.

"Take care of each other, okay?" he told Yokozawa, "You've managed to sell her books – but don't you _dare_ sell her heart to anyone else. She's worth more than that. A lot of people would get you for hurting her, got it?"

"Of course, sir," _And I know you'd be one of them._

Upon returning to his desk, however, Yokozawa did not know that Ana had a strange surprise.

**X.o.X**

"I still don't get you, Ana, _why_ did you agree to this?!"

Ana was now dragging him to Kirishima Hiyo's school, where they were supposed to pick up the young girl, upon the dire request of her father, Kirishima Zen.

"Because I believe that she needs to get home?" Ana replied, a pertinent eyebrow raised.

Yokozawa sighed, "Just this morning, I figured that you wouldn't be in good terms with Kirishima," he tried to reason out.

"Maybe," Ana said slyly, a chuckle escaping her lips, "But that doesn't mean I'll take it out on his _daughter_."

Yokozawa shrugged. _Maybe Ana is too good for that._

Upon reaching the floor of the third-graders, they found the teacher in front of the classroom and Yokozawa stepped up, "Let me take this," he started, "I've fetched her once before…"

However, the teacher panicked, and argued, and fought with him for so many minutes, even calling Kirishima in disbelief when Ana pushed him lightly out of the way.

"Hello, sensei," she started with her trademark, blinding smile, "I'm Hideyoshi Ana and I work in the same company Kirishima-san works in. Earlier today, he asked me to pick her up, so may I take her home with us?"

Kirishima was already on the phone, however, so they all heard the teacher say, "Kirishima-san, I never knew you were planning to re-marry," and she bade him goodbye and put down the receiver. She called in Hiyo, whose immediate reaction was to run to Yokozawa's waist and embrace him:

"Yokozawa!"

Ana giggled, looking at the scene unfolding before her, and managed to catch Hiyo's attention, "… Who are you?" she asked.

The young author bent down a little to meet Hiyo's gaze, "Hi Hiyo-chan, I'm Hideyoshi Ana," she smiled brightly at her, "I work in your dad's office, and he told us to pick you up today… Do you want some ice-cream?"

_Wait, what?_

"Yay! Ice cream!"

"Come on!"

Yokozawa didn't have enough time to process what was happening because Ana and Hiyo had suddenly become such good friends, hand-in-hand as they walked out of the school. They talked about a lot of things, ice-cream for one, studies for another, and a little bit about books, naturally.

"… So, what do you do in dad's office?"

"Oh, you mean what work? Well, I'm a writer."

"Really? Do you know the author of RWILC?"

"What?"

"Reasons Why I Like Coffee."

Yokozawa's brows furrowed upon hearing that statement, _I thought our target audience were teenagers?_

"Yeah," he heard Ana reply, "We're really close~"

It took a great deal of effort for Yokozawa not to snort here, and Ana realized it because she looked back at him, glaring, "Ask Yokozawa," she added.

Hiyo stopped walking and turned to Yokozawa, "Do you think the author will sign my book for me? When it's finally released in Japan, I mean…"

A grin etched upon his face, Yokozawa stole a glance at Ana, who was patting Hiyo on the head, "I'm pretty sure she will, Hiyo,"

**X.o.X**

"Dad!"

After a long walk to the editor's house, Ana and Yokozawa found Kirishima leaning upon the doorframe, waiting for them. Just after entering the front gate, Ana called Hiyo back.

"Hiyo-chan! I have something for you~" and the little girl looked intently at her.

And from within her bag, Ana took out a paperback copy of her book, much like the one she gave her brother, and took out a pen. She wrote on the back a little, before handing it to the little girl, "This is for you,"

And Hiyo's eyes widened to see her long-awaited book, "But… it's not even being sold here!"

Ana laughed and ruffled Hiyo's hair, "That's why it's special, Hiyo-chan,"

Quite ecstatic, Hiyo ran back up the front steps to her father, "Daddy! Look!"

"I can see that, Hiyo," Kirishima started, ruffling his daughter's hair, "Now, wash up 'cause we're having dinner and you can start reading that book right after, if you want,"

"Okay~"

The child happily bounced into the house, and the three adults watched her disappear into one of the rooms. Once out of sight, and earshot, Kirishima turned to Yokozawa with a slight grimace, "… Aren't you coming in, Yokozawa?"

The salesman tensed, and turned to Ana, who drew a deep breath.

"It's fine," Ana started to say with a shrug, her expression falling, "I figured that it was about time for me to go,"

"No, Ana," Yokozawa began, but the young author shook her head.

"I'm fine, Takafumi," she said, with a faltering smile, "I'll be okay, really. He's inviting only _you_ in."

And without even waiting for Yokozawa to say anything else, she walked out of the front gate. Slightly annoyed, Yokozawa turned to Kirishima, "What the hell was that for?!" he demanded.

"What?" Kirishima asked rather roughly, "It was right for her to leave, she's not welcome here."

It took a few moments for Yokozawa to sift through his brain what he was about to say, "I'm sorry," he said, "But it isn't the way you think it is…" and at this, Kirishima's eyes widened, "I didn't realize it at first, but I what I found in you is just a mirror of a part of Ana – and to be honest, I'd like the whole. I don't know if you'll believe me, but I do still love her." And the salesman took out the key that was given to him earlier that day, "I would have to refuse."

For a few moments, Kirishima merely stared, awestruck. Then, he turned to walk back into the house, "Keep it and invite her to dinner. Hiyo and I will set up a date," he paused before taking hold of the doorknob, "… And close the gate on your way out."

Yokozawa didn't know what else to do except to grin at his colleague, "Thanks."

**X.o.X**

Dusk settled in very quickly as autumn slowly morphed into winter and the streets were not as busy as they usually were. But atop a hill sat one of Ana's favourite places, with a quiet view of the city below, and quite near the park she got to know as a child. Chills were going up her spine, telling her that she was slightly under-dressed but even though her cheeks were turning pale, she sat down right in front of the library doorstep, letting her mind reel.

"How typical."

Surprised, Ana looked up to find Yokozawa lighting a cigarette and sitting down on the space to her left, "Just because we had our first date there, it really means that much to you, huh?" and he blew out a puff of smoke, away from Ana's face.

"Tch," the young author scowled, "As _if_ that's the reason," she muttered, "Besides, why did you leave Kirishima's house?"

As an answer, Yokozawa took off his scarf and ungracefully hung it around Ana's neck, "I was afraid you might die out here," he whispered, "I know how easily you get cold…"

If she was affected by his words, she renounced them and avoided his gaze, "I'm an adult, I know how to take care of myself," she whispered, "And besides… I know that you have a question to answer from him."

Yokozawa shrugged, "I already answered,"

With that, wide eyes turned to him, and the salesman smirked, "Did you really think that I wouldn't choose you?"

Her sensitivity getting the better of her, the young author fixed the scarf that Yokozawa gave her, smiling to herself as tears ran down her face, "You really are an idiot sometimes, Takafumi," she started to say.

"Tch," And Yokozawa pulled her towards him, moving his cigarette to his other hand, "Yeah. You make me do idiotic things like staying out in the cold at 10pm," he started, blowing out a puff of smoke above her head.

He looked at her lovingly, and their gazes met. And even after so many years, he could still see all that they've ever had emanating in her eyes. So, he dropped his cigarette and took her hand, kissing it tenderly before entwining their fingers together.

Giggling softly, Ana leaned comfortably on his shoulder. As they looked out at the busy city and the skyline it showed before them, the view was almost perfect, until…

"So, is it my place tonight or shall I bring you back to Masamune's?"

Ana sighed, "Way to go ruin the moment, Takafumi," she said, slightly annoyed.

"What?" demanded the salesman, "It's for a good reason!"

In defeat, Ana just chuckled and kissed him tenderly on the cheek, "I think we should take baby steps from here, love."

"Only if you say so," Yokozawa turned to her, very much aware of their proximity, "Then we should head to Masamune's now…"

* * *

**A/N:** And if someone actually gives me an interesting request, I'm considering writing about it!


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